Does this mean that creditors and insurance companies are prohibited from obtaining a prescreened list with the name of anyone under the age of 21 for purposes of making an unsolicited pre-screened offer of credit or insurance, or that creditors may not obtain the consumer report of a young consumer unless the consumer has authorized it?

The requirement to obtain consent from consumers under the age of 21 only applies to the permissible purpose provisions related to prescreening.  The provision with the age condition cited in the question applies to “subparagraph (A) or (C) of subsection (a)(3).” Those subparagraphs relate to the provisions that allow consumer reporting agencies to provide consumer reports for purposes of prescreening without the consumer’s consent if they meet certain conditions. There are no requirements to obtain consent from young people to obtain their consumer report pursuant to the other permissible purposes. 

The FCRA provides that consumer reporting agencies may not furnish a consumer report under the prescreening permissible purpose provisions about a person under the age of 21 unless the person has consented. This means that the consumer reporting agency will not include someone under the age of 21 in a prescreened list without that individual’s consent. (March 2024)